Kick off the holidays with this festive Christmas Appetiser – an Italian Cheese Log! It’s like an antipasto platter in dip form packed with minced salami, olives, peppers, green onions, a hefty dose of Italian seasonings, AND topped with sun dried tomato.
Terrific easy, make-ahead economical alternative to expensive cheese platters – and bursting with the holiday cheer!!!
A FESTIVE CHRISTMAS APPETIZER IDEA!
Bringing on some Christmas cheer with this festive Italian Cheese Log!!
It’s a far cry from your usual cheeseball with a handful of token flavourings. This one is jam packed with flavour…. loaded with Italian flavours!!
The secret ingredients in this are finely chopped salami and sun dried tomato. Taking the time to mince the salami really makes a difference because then it’s all throughout the cheese log – nobody wants to be that person who takes a giant scoop of dip only to find it’s completely devoid of salami!
As for the sun dried tomato – well, I contemplated putting it in the cheese log, but I simply couldn’t resist how great it looks when piled on top. Add a few sprigs of rosemary, and it just looks so fabulously festive – it’s a perfect Christmas appetiser for sharing!! 🎄🎄🎄
WHY YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE!
It would be so easy to ramble on and on about how great this Italian Cheese Log is, but you don’t need that. So let me just get right down to why you’ll love this!!
✅ Looks fabulous – a great Christmas appetiser made for sharing!
✅ Tastes incredible – packed with flavour!
✅ Easy
✅ Make ahead – keeps for up to a week*
✅ Makes loads
✅ But can also be scaled down
✅ Economical alternative to expensive cheese platters
✅ Adaptable and versatile! Skip the salami to make it meatless, change up the add ins!
* Subject to shelf life of salami
AN ANTIPASTO PLATTER – IN CHEESE LOG FORM!
I just love the colours in this. Even making it brings on the holiday cheer – look at all those colours! ↑↑↑
We’ve got salami, olives, chargrilled peppers (I like to use the jar with mixed colours – yellow and red – just for extra colour), cheese, and a nice hit of freshness from minced green onion.
Add a good dose of Italian seasonings – I like to make my own simple mix here but you can absolutely substitute with an Italian seasoning mix – then simply mix it all together, scrap into a loaf pan or freeform it into the shape of a log and refrigerate.
The refrigeration time is to firm it up so it can be turned out onto a platter and also to give it time for the flavours to meld. It’s terrific made on the day, but it’s even better the next day… and the next… and the next!
QUICK FESTIVE LOOK
Decorating it is my favourite part – the beauty of it being that it’s so easy!! I literally just dump an entire jar of sun dried tomatoes over the top – oil and all.
The oil is infused with flavour and it’s part of the overall eating experience. So with every bite, you have crisp salty crackers, the soft flavour packed Cheese Log, some extra pops of flavour from sun dried tomato AND juiciness from the sun dried tomato oil.
Ahhhh, it’s the perfect bite!!! 😇
If your people are more civilised than mine, then consider serving this Italian Cheese Log with small cheese knifes to spread onto crackers.
But if your people are like mine, you’ll skip the cutlery and just let everyone dive in with their hands, grabbing crackers and dunking it straight into the cheese log.
Yep, it’ll get messy. All that effort you go to, prettying it up and they are going to annihilate it.
And that’s totally ok. That’s what sharing food is all about, right?? Especially during the festive season! 😂 – Nagi x
MORE CHRISTMAS APPETISER IDEAS!
CHRISTMAS APPETISER – ITALIAN CHEESE LOG!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Christmas Appetiser: Italian Cheese Loaf
Ingredients
Cheese Log:
- 500g/ 1 lb cream cheese , softened (Note 1)
- 1/3 cup sour cream (Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp EACH thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, black pepper OR 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp EACH garlic powder, salt, red pepper/chilli flakes (adjust to taste)
- 2 cup cheddar or other cheese , freshly grated (Note 3)
- 280g / 9 oz roasted peppers , drained and finely chopped
- 180g / 6 oz salami , finely chopped (Note 4)
- 3/4 cup green olives , finely chopped
- 1/3 cup green onion , finely minced (3 – 4 stalks)
Topping/serving:
- 220g / 7 oz sun dried tomato strips with OIL , roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup parsley , finely chopped (or chives)
- Rosemary sprigs (decoration)
- Jatz or other crackers , for serving
Instructions
- Spray a loaf pan with oil then line with cling wrap with overhang.
- Mix Cheese Log ingredients together. Taste and adjust salt if needed (bear in mind saltiness of crackers you are serving with).
- Scrape into loaf pan and level surface, pressing to remove air pockets. Smaller pan = taller loaf.
- Cover with cling wrap overhang and refrigerate for 4 hours+ (up to 1 week).
- Turn out onto platter, peel off cling wrap.
- Top with sun dried tomato and pour over oil. Garnish with parsley and rosemary sprigs to give it a festive look.
- Best to serve closer to room temp than fridge cold. Serve with crackers! Knives for smearing optional – it’s soft enough to scoop with crackers.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Cute Christmassy photos of Dozer is all part of the Christmas tradition. Except…… he fell asleep mid photo shoot! 😂
Love seeing more Dozer on the new website!
Good morning from Kansas! Love your recipes and love the new website. I can’t wait to try more recipes. I’m part Japanese and enjoy seeing your mom’s traditional recipes too. Dozer is adorable as always. Keep up the good work!
I’m often resistant to change, but having browsed a bit now, the new website is great. I miss the green, but I love the sections, sub-sections, themes and collections. Almost as much as I love your recipes. PS. I think the link in the mailer has the wrong url 😉
Love the new website.I can’t wait to make this recipe for our annual family party. And thank goodness you kept the photos of Dozer. He always brightens my day!
Hello Nagi,
This one looks very good. Must get out & buy the ingredients.
I’m retired & living in Oakville, Ontario, Canada by the way, & I’ve been following, & trying out some of your various recipes for some time now.
Thanks for sharing them.
Warm regards,
Bob
Your new design is great! Much easier, visually, to navigate and the larger font is easier on the eye.
Didn’t think your website & recipes could get any better; but it has! Your recipes are the best.
Thanks for this wonderful holiday gift!
You have done an excellent job on this website.
Merry Christmas to you and Dozer.
Xoxo
Beautiful new website!
Mele Kalikimaka (merry Christmas) from Hawaii!
I like the site but I like the look of that knife even more!
Please pick me!
Hi Nagi, I thought the original was perfect, but once again you’ve gone the extra mile. Maintains all the was right and adds additional structural clarity. The pictures, step by step recipes and additional noted with explainations and options are top notch. Like with the cheese log ‘if your vegitarian just leave out the salami and add parmesan cheese’ you try had to cover all he bases. The variety of cuisines and fail proof recipes have me anticipating your emails the most of any cooking site. Thanks for your hard work.
Looks like the new website is going to be easy to navigate…love your recipes & dozer 😋
This recipe couldn’t have come at a more perfect time! Needed something fantastic to take to holiday party…delicious. 😋 New Nagi fans were born! We absolutely love your recipes. Your humor, hard work and passion shines through in every post. My daughter and I make it a point to make at least 1 or 2 recipes a week and we are never disappointed. Plus the lifelong memories I’m making with her are priceless. Thank you…thank you.
Wishing you and your family the best always but especially during this holiday season and in the upcoming year!
Sending love from Texas💕
Victoria and Patricia
I love your website and the recipes you post. They are easy to follow and your notes help me a lot.
Perfect timing for this recipe. Just happen to gave all the ingredients on hand. Salami was not spicy, but I added a little cayenne pepper. Delicious! I love your new site, easy to find a recipe- just what was needed.
Love this recipe.
I also love the new look of your website. Bright fresh colors and pictures.. Thumbs up!!!!!!
I like the fresh, clean look of your new website. It really makes the photos stand out.
I also like the ‘Quick & Easy’ button in the recipe section, as that is often what I’m going for 🙂
Love your recipes, and I’m looking forward to trying out this cheese log over the holidays!
Loving the look of the new website,good job!
My only recommendation would be to have a vegetarian section.
Beautiful! I have had a wander around the site and discovered all kinds of new things to try. I really like the categorization by cuisine. Congratulations. P.S. The ghosting mentioned below doesn’t appear on my iPad.
That looks absolutely fantastic, and the website redesign is gorgeous! I’ve made some of your recipes before (most notably the Persian Love Cake), and they’ve all been big hits!
Looks wonderful
I will try this for X-Mas